Every year, downtown Vancouver turns into a mass of energy, determination and wick-away fabric known as The Vancouver Sun Run.

Let's hope the weather is as nice on Sunday as it looks in this painting.

If you’ve never participated in this athletic institution, I highly suggest you do. Having run in the race last year, I can tell you that the excitement of being among roughly 50 000 all striving for one goal overpowers the physical exhaustion of reaching the finish line.

Having a good run means preparing for it. That means you’ll want to get to the race early to partake in the limbering up and psyching up that’s part of the event. The last thing you want to do when getting ready for the big event is look for parking. There are a number of bus reroutes on the day, so you’ll want to check the TransLink Transit Service for the Sun Run page before you leave.

The Expo and Millennium SkyTrain lines will start earlier on Sunday: 6:38 a.m. from King George Station with rush-hour service levels, 6:45 a.m. from Lougheed Station in both directions, 7:20 a.m. from Waterfront Station.

The SeaBus will startone hour earlier than normal, with the first sailing from Lonsdale Quay at 7:02 a.m., and 15-minute service until the afternoon.

West Coast Express will be offering a Sun Run Special train, leaving Mission at 7 a.m. (arriving Waterfront Station at 8:15 a.m.) and returning from Waterfront at 1 p.m.

Cycling to the event? We’re offering a free bike valet for 100 bikes on Level 2 of BC Place Stadium, with easy access from the Cambie Bridge bike lanes and Pacific Boulevard. This makes for an east walk to SkyTrain and the starting point near Burrard Street SkyTrain Station. Please note that at busy times, transit staff may delay or restrict bicycles on trains. You can check out our Bikes on Transit section of the TransLink website for more information about bike restrictions and capacity.

Remember, the run is this Sunday, April 15 at 9 a.m., so transit customers need only pay a single-zone fare of $2.50 for adults and $1.75 for children, high school students with a valid GoCard, seniors aged 65 or older and HandyCard holders. Have a great run!

Hey Translink. People are fare evading because many travel just 1-2 stations (i.e from Columbia station to Scott road), a whopping 1 station, but somehow Translink thinks they should pay a 2 zone ticket. They fare evade by only purchasing a 1 zone ticket. How/why does it cost as much to travel 1 station as it would to ride the skytrain all the way to Waterfront? WTF?????!!!!!!!!!!! Time to join the rest of the developed world!

I can’t emphasize enough how totally wrong it is. It is not right that I have to wait until next year for a completely ill-designed and quite frankly poorly planned out metro system to be fixed! It makes me think Translink did ZERO research on how metro is organized in other cities. Until then, i’ll continue to pay for two zone tickets to travel 1 station, and just grit my teeth as fair jumpers snag the open seats from me because i’m lined up trying to buy my 2 zone ticket!!!! FRUSTRATED! FRUSTRATED! FRUSTRATED! FRUSTRATED!

While I understand your frustration with having to pay for 2 zones just to go one station.

Keep in mind that the zone system that we have was never designed by Translink. This system have been around for decades long before Translink was even conceived. As well there was really no way of getting away from this system until the smart card with tap on and tap off became available.

My guess as to why there might be a delay with the introduction with a distance based fare. Is probably because translink wants to get a few months worth of data collected from its riders. To get an idea of what pricing model it needs.

#WhatsTheLink

The #WhatsTheLink series is all about what TransLink is responsible for in Metro Vancouver and some little known facts about what we do. TransLink is responsible for transit, but our mandate also includes roads, bridges, cycling and walking paths.